daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
Today, I gave Kiki a wash. It’s probably only the fifth time I’ve washed her in 14 years! I think dual sports like a GS look better dirty anyway. Of course, I keep the chain and moving parts clean and lubricated, but I don’t pay much attention to the bodywork. 😄
I also took a ride out to Taylor, Texas for a burger. Check out the motovlog if you get a chance!
I wanted to ride my motorcycle for longer distances, but I always worry about getting a flat far from home. This happened to me once before, and I couldn’t change the rear tube by myself. That rear tire is just a pain to get off the rim!
So, I bought a cast rear wheel to make repairing a puncture much easier. With most spoked rims, you need to use an inner tube inside the tire. To fix or replace the inner tube if you get a puncture, you have to remove the wheel from the bike and then the tire from the wheel. But with a cast rim, you can go tubeless and simply plug a small puncture using a plug kit without needing to remove the wheel from the bike.
Luckily, I found a cast rear wheel on eBay for only $120 (they go for about $1,200 new)! I’d love to find a front wheel as well, but honestly, the rear was more important because changing the tube on the front tire is much easier and requires less strength.
I went with Kiki on another favorite road here in Austin: Old Spicewood Springs Road. It’s such a blast! I also experimented with an external mic to reduce wind noise. While the results are better than before, I’m still not fully satisfied. More testing is needed!
I love my new tinted face shield! I rarely ride at night, so I think the tinted shield will be super-convenient. I had a tinted face-shield on my old helmet so I pretty much know what to expect. Yay for more comfortable (and safer) riding!
I went for a nice ride with Kiki (my motorbike) to meet a friend at the camera store. The store has a semi-annual event where they give out gift vouchers of varying value to the first 50 customers. I got lucky and received a $25 voucher, which I used to buy a couple of packs of Instax film. Woot!
After that, I rode to Ramen Del Barrio to try some of the Mexican-fusion ramen. I ordered the carnitas tonkotsu, which was excellent!
I took my Insta360 camera along for the ride so I could make a little motovlog video. Hopefully I can edit it and upload this week.
What a fun day!
